Super Mario Sunset
by XFranco
Summary: For the Mushroom Kingdom's greatest hero, the greatest battle lies within.
1. The one in which Mario is in jail

Super Mario Sunset

Disclaimer: Nintendo owns Mario, not me

Chapter 1- The one in which Mario is in jail

Mario was the happy-go-lucky hero of the Mushroom Kingdom. He was the plump plumber who hopped across its verdant hills stomping any villain who came across him. His valor and humility shined brighter than any gold star he collected and they served as gold standards for the rest of us to live up to.

But as he sat alone in the dirty, dark jail cell, the feelings he had were not so squeaky clean. Outside the bars were the warm sands and glistening waves of Isle Delfino. It was a tropical paradise, a heaven. Whatever it was, it was more than what its inhabitants, the Piantas deserved.

"Ungrateful, grass skirt-wearing, candy-colored blobs..." muttered Mario.

They were the ones who had locked him away in this hole. Apparently, a Mario imposter had been going around vandalizing the island with graffiti made of strange, aggressive paint sludge with properties no one yet understood. These island-dwellers, ignorant of Mario's true nature, naturally locked him away while his trial was pending.

And poor Peach. The whole point of this trip was for her and Mario to take a much-earned vacation, together, away from the madness and kidnappings of their still-beloved Mushroom Kingdom. The fact that she too now had to endure this ordeal only exasperated the feelings of anger and resentment twisting up inside those red-and-blue overalls right now. Fed up, Mario grabbed his hat, through it on the ground, and stomped it with his foot as if it were a minion of Bowser's.

"If I only had a fire flower," he thought "I would-a burn this whole place down to-a the ground."

Suddenly, the door opened and light streamed into the darkness, followed by a Delfino police officer.

"Mario?" the officer asked.

"It's-a me," Mario replied.

"It's time for your trial," said the officer.

Mario looked at his hat lying wrinkled on the ground. The misshapen "M" stared back at him in a most uncomforting way. Mario then picked it up, placed it back on his head, and walked out the door.

**SEVERAL WEEKS LATER**

As Mario stepped off the airplane, accompanied Princess Peach, back onto the soil of his beloved Mushroom Kingdom, something bizarre yet familiar arose in him. It was the same, horrible, negative feelings he had experience sitting in that rotten Delfino jail cell. The fight over was over now. Bowser and Bowser Jr.'s plot had been exposed. Mario had been exonerated, the shine sprites had returned to Delfino and Peach had been saved. Mario had even found a new companion in F.L.U.D.D., the robotic liquidizing device he had used to combat the pollution. But something was still not right. Perhaps he was still coping. During the flight he had suffered vivid, violent nightmares of every enemy he had encountered.

"Be careful lest ye become," was a particularly haunting line that had come from the spectre of Wart.

"Are you okay Mario?" asked Peach, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Indeed my boy. You appear to be quite shaken," added Peach's elderly steward Toadsworth.

"I'm-a fine," said Mario, "It's just, I don't understand how they could've done that to me. Put me in jail. I mean, it's-a me, Mario."

"The Piantas already apologized. Let it go Mario," said Peach.

"It was a simple misunderstanding son. No need for hard feelings," said Toadsworth.

"I guess," said Mario.

At that moment, if you were an insect beneath Mario's heel, you would've noticed a piece of the foreign sludge Mario thought he had eradicated on Isle Delfino slither off his shoe and up his pant leg.

At that moment Mario scowled.

It seemed as if everything was finally back to normal and peace had returned but although Mario may have been home, the truth was, for Mario and everyone around him, things were about to change forever.


	2. The one in which Mario cannot sleep

Chapter 2- The one in which Mario can't sleep

_He had heard rumors that the blocks were dead Toads who had been turned to stone. Silly rumors yes but what else could explain the screams emanating from the pile of bricks and shattered question marks. It so unbearable he could almost…_

"Mr. Mario could you sign my mini-Mario toy please?"

The voice that snapped Mario from his most recent waking nightmare came from a Toad child in line for the grand opening of the min-land amusement park.

"Of course he will child, right Mario?"

That voice came from Pauline, Mario's first love whom he had saved from Donkey Kong's clutches years earlier. She had now become a major player in the Mushroom Kingdom entertainment industry and this collaboration with Mario was the result of both professional and personal respect.

"Yeah, yeah," said Mario picking up the wind-up doll bearing his likeness and quickly scribbling his name across it.

"You know Peach told me you've been acting weird lately, ever since that whole Delfino incident. What were you spooked after doing a little jail time?" said Pauline in a somewhat mocking tone.

"I've been to the ends of the Earth Pauline. I'm not afraid of some miserable Pianta jail," he retorted.

"It must be nice to see so many places whether it's with your woman or in pursuit of her," said Pauline. She then placed her hand on Mario's chest. "But would you ever consider just going home again?"

This hadn't been the first time Pauline had pulled this stunt. A stronger alliance with Mario would give her untold influence throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. Plus she did truly harbor remaining feelings for him even after they realized her ruthless ambition was incompatible with his symbolic status. Now was the time for him to once again brush her off and walk away. But there was that squirming sensation again. He had been feeling periodically landing back in the kingdom. It urged him to say and do things he normally would or could not. This time, and Mario didn't know how or why, but it compelled him to say,

"You know, the rest of Delfino, is actually pretty nice. Maybe I'll go back one day and take you with me."

Pauline could barely contain her excitement but as a grin was forming on her face, a figure was forming out in the distance. The crowd quickly dispersed as the figure, Donkey Kong, approached the stage. He exchanged glances with Pauline and then bared his teeth at Mario.

"I know you what you want, but you can't have it. Not again," said Mario jumping off the stage to face his original nemesis. "Let's-a go."

Kong's arms were big and powerful, but Mario was able to avoid their swings. He ducked underneath Kong's fists and delivered three short, powerful blows to his body and face. They were more powerful than Mario's attacks had ever been, powerful enough that Kong fell to the ground in defeat. But it was over too quickly, the squirming sensation was saying that it wasn't enough. Mario raised his fist again but heard a voice cry out.

"Mario stop!" it was Pauline, in shock at the brutality she had just witnessed, "It's finished."

Mario rejoined her on stage, glared at her, grabbed her by the neck and forcefully kissed her for quite some time before she managed to push him off. The whirlwind of emotions had been too much for her.

"Peach was right. There is something wrong with you."

**The Next Day**

"I'm sorry to bother you bro, but I don't know who else to go to and it's getting worse."

"No problem Mario. Family comes first."

Mario and Luigi spent the afternoon talking, reminiscing, and playing games. It was a wonderful way for the brothers to bond and for Mario to forget the issues that had been plaguing him. But he knew this was no solution. He had to admit to Luigi and to himself that he had to confront this.

"I don't really understand what the problem is," said Luigi.

Mario thought for a second to figure out how to verbalize the abstract concept of feelings.

"I've been getting this _feeling _lately. It's awful yet exhilarating. It doesn't feel like me sometimes but others it feels like it's coming from my very core. It's a negative feeling, but it wants me to do things I've wanted to for years," Mario explained.

"That's deep bro. Let me give you the number to a guy I know. He's good at dealing with post-traumatic stuff like this. He helped me after that whole ghost ordeal. You know the one where you got kidnapped and forgot about it. Anyway, meet this guy," Luigi said while handing Mario a card with the name "Professor E. Gadd" on it.

**The Following Week**

As Mario sat outside the Professor's office, he saw a boy walk out who looked even more troubled than he was. Whereas Mario's issue was one of perpetual confused anger, this boy looked as if he had been depressed after leaving the womb. It was actually a sight to behold the boy looked so sad and Mario would have stared at him longer but the boy seemed to be in a hurry and quickly exited. Aside from his disposition, only his yellow and purple outfit stuck in Mario's mind.

"Mario, you can come in now," said the Professor sticking his head out the door.

Mario entered the office and proceeded to tell the Professor basically what he told Luigi regarding his complicated problem.

"That's a very peculiar problem indeed. Then again, you Super Mario Brothers are very peculiar people. Normal men that have accomplished what you have would be demanding statues erected in their honor as payment but not you. It's quite commendable," said the Professor.

Something about those last words rubbed Mario the wrong way. "There is something else Professor," he continued, "I get these dreams whether I'm asleep or not. And most the time I'm stomping on something or throwing a fireball at it. But other times, I'm just running and jumping. There's nothing in my way no toads or princesses to rescue or Bowser's to stop. I'm just running and I reach this flagpole but no matter how fast I run or how high I approach it, I can't get over it."

"I see," said the Professor, "Unfulfilled ambition, a longing to cut loose for just once in your life. It's a shame but it seems even you are not free from sin, or at least the desire to commit it. The Piantas thought you were a bad man and now you are curious to see what it is like. I'd say it is best to just let this get out of your system."

**That Night**

Mario walked home, the professor's condescending but truthful words echoing in his head. He sprawled across his bed hoping this epiphany would lessen the severity of the inevitable dreams. Unfortunately, the events that had transpired only made him angrier and more resentful towards himself in addition to those around him. The last thing he remembered before losing consciousness was a sensation more powerful than all that had come before it.

Mario awoke in pitch blackness. He did not know where he was or how he had gotten there but he could still tell the difference between reality and a dream. He could make out his hands and legs but everything else seemed to be obscured by shadows. However, then he turned around and saw something else, something as miraculous as it was perplexing. Flying in the distance was that familiar green banner but this was a sight Mario had only seen in his most rare dreams. For the first time the banner was to his _left._

Mario was over the flagpole.


	3. The one in which Mario understands

The one in which Mario understands

In this strange new land, Mario noticed a secret exit. Oh the mysteries it could hide.

Mario opened, the door, got on the floor, everybody walked the dinosaur.

The end.


End file.
